Many homes and businesses suffer from infestations of allergens and other undesirable organic and inorganic substances, such as molds, viruses, bacteria, and dust mites. Floor coverings such as carpeting in homes and hotels, for example, can contain a high concentration of organic or inorganic substances, which create a potentially unhealthy or harmful environmental condition. A common indoor allergen in carpeting and mattresses that can trigger allergy symptoms in humans is the dust mite, a microscopic insect related to spiders. It has been claimed that allergies developed in the early years of a child's life due to exposure to allergens can result in life-long allergic responses or more serious medical conditions such as asthma. Exposure to mold spores, for example, has been linked to certain types of respiratory illnesses. Long-term exposure to mold may cause asthma or other respiratory problems, even in individuals who are not naturally sensitive or allergic to mold.
Conventional cleaning methods do not effectively reduce populations of infestation agents present within carpeting. Standard vacuum cleaners do not sanitize or disinfect carpeting, and vacuuming alone usually removes only a fraction of allergens from carpeting. Typically, steam cleaning is cumbersome, expensive, and may involve the use of chemicals. Also, steam cleaning can leave a carpet and its carpet pad in a wet condition that can support the undesirable growth of molds, mildew, bacteria, or dust mites in or beneath the carpet. As another alternative, chemical powders or dry carpet cleaning powders comprised primarily of chemical pesticides and insecticides may be used to clean carpeting. The potential health and safety hazards associated with such chemical powders, however, often outweigh any benefits that might be obtained by using them.
Many experts have suggested that the only solution to dealing with infestation agents in carpeting is to remove existing carpeting altogether and to refrain from using carpeting as a floor covering. However, for many individuals who find carpeting desirable, and for many applications where carpeting is an optimum choice for a floor covering, this is not an acceptable solution. As a result of the inadequacy of conventional carpet cleaning methods, however, carpeting in homes and commercial establishments can become an ideal environment in which dust mites, germs, bacteria, viruses, molds and other pathogens or microorganisms can live, grow, and multiply.
In addition, mattresses and other like articles are often afflicted by infestation agents. By the nature of how a mattress is used for rest or sleep, it is frequently in close contact with humans or animals that may shed dead skin, for example, or discard other organic substances that are retained in the mattress. Insects such as dust mites can thrive on this organic matter and quickly develop into a significant population within the mattress. As described above for carpeting, conventional cleaning methods applied to a mattress cannot both safely and effectively reduce populations of infestation agents present within the mattress.
It has been discovered that ultraviolet (“UV”) light, particularly in the “C” spectrum (“UVC”), can deactivate the DNA of bacteria, viruses, germs, molds, and other pathogens and microorganisms, thus destroying their ability to reproduce and multiply. UVC light has been used effectively in various applications to disinfect and sanitize hospital rooms, medical clinics, food production facilities, and drinking water. However, existing products and processes have been unable to effectively and safely leverage the benefits of UV light to sanitize infestation agents in cleaning media such as carpeting and mattresses.
In view of the problems described above, safe and effective disinfecting devices are needed to address the deficiencies of conventional processes for sanitizing cleaning media such as carpeting and mattresses.